Selfish
by ShadowSwan
Summary: "Eddie Miller is selfish. He always has been, and he always will be." Patricia reflects on every selfish thing Eddie has ever done to her, including turning her life upside down, ruining her reputation and annoying her at her own wedding. Peddie, ten chapters, ten thousand words. AU.
1. Turning My Life Upside Down

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places etc. related to House of Anubis.**

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1. Turning My Life Upside Down

Eddie Miller is selfish. He always has been, and he always will be.

Most people don't see this part of him; all they see is an extremely attractive boy who is carefree, clever when he wants to be, and just the right side of cocky. I know better though. I'd never tell anyone this; then I'd sound mean and grumpy, and seeing as those are the two personality traits I'm usually associated with anyway, I'm best avoiding the subject. But it's Eddie who is the mean one, trust me.

\/\O~O/\/

He's selfish because he turned my life upside down without any warning. I was happy, or as happy as I could be, at Anubis House. For the first time in my life, I was away from home and I was free. I had friends, I was realising that I did excel at some things, I'd just never been allowed to try them before. In my house, I felt like I had a family, though I'd die before admitting that to any of them.

I was content, and I was settled.

Then Eddie Miller walked through the door, and I learnt for the first time that my stomach was just as capable of flipping as the girls' in the soppy movies I hated so much.

"Hey," he said, one day, catching me unawares at breakfast as I was pouring some cereal into my bowl. One word, and he had me. That wasn't fair.

And he knew, he had to know, that he had me at that one word. I'd paused, and then I'd crumbled. Looking up at him, I set the cereal down and waited expectantly, trying to seem suitably disinterested.

"Can you pass me the milk?" he asked, motioning to where it was sat in front of Jerome, at arm's length from me.

Silently I passed it over to him, earning a jaw-dropping smile from him in thanks. I wasn't sure why he'd felt the need to sit next to me this morning. Only yesterday everyone had watched as I'd poured a whole jug of milk over Alfie. Everyone else was giving me a wide berth. But no, he'd plonked himself down next to me and now he was distracting me.

"Sorry to bother you again, but can you pass the sugar?" he said after a few seconds.

With a slight huff, to reassure him that I wasn't enjoying his presence this morning, I reached over and handed it to him, pulling a face. Who even put sugar on their cereal? I was starting to wonder whether I liked him after all.

"Thank you," he laughed. "I'll let you get on with your breakfast now."

With my cheeks bulging with cereal, I nodded at him in appreciation, wanting to sink my head right into my bowl with embarrassment. His impression of me so far had to be silent, impatient and incredibly greedy. Exactly what I wanted him to think of me. Eating my breakfast faster than I ever had, I got up and left the table as soon as possible, making my way to my room.

Unfortunately, I was followed.

"Hey," he called from behind me, and I rolled my eyes. For a second I considered ignoring him, but seeing as we were the only two in the hallway, there was no point pretending I hadn't heard. Turning round, I stood on the landing, leaning over the little banister, waiting to see what he wanted.

"I haven't really spoken to you yet," he said, looking up at me with curiosity. The light shone through the stained glass window and illuminated his face. He looked like something out of a classic painting. "I mean, besides asking you to pass me stuff at the table."

"I've been pretty busy," I said, smiling at him before I realised. Quickly adjusting my features into a more standard frown, I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if he was going to accept that brush-off.

"Well that's too bad," he said, sounding so American. It annoyed me. American accents were supposed to be annoying, but it only annoyed me because it sounded so damn good on him. He was like a movie star or something. "You look pretty fun."

"Well I'm not," I said bluntly, but to my surprise, my feet were making their way back downstairs. I paused at the second step, levelling with him. He was so tall; it made my knees weak.

"I highly doubt that," he grinned. "I saw that sparkle in your eyes yesterday morning."

"When?" I demanded. My eyes didn't sparkle, unless it was the mad glint right before I did something evil. He hadn't even spoken to me yesterday morning; he'd barely spoken to me at all.

"As you poured that jug of milk over Alfie. Your eyes definitely sparkled."

"Well I think you're mistaken there. And that wasn't for fun, that was revenge. He hid my straighteners from me."

"Good thing your hair looks good when it's curly then," he smiled, and I found myself smiling back again. I wasn't ever complimented, but if this was how it felt, I wanted people saying nice things about me twenty-four seven. I stopped smiling abruptly as I realised I sounded like Amber.

"Thank you," I said awkwardly, realising I ought to be polite but also realising I needed to get out before I said or did something silly. "I have some work I need to do though, so..."

"Okay, I'll catch you around... Patricia, right?"

I nodded in response. I was terrified my voice might be a squeak. I could already feel a blush spreading over my cheeks after hearing him say my name.

"I'm Eddie, in case you missed it. See you around, Patricia."

I'd simply nodded again and tried to make my way up the stairs calmly. I was nearly free, my hand was on the door handle to the girls' rooms, when I heard his final comment.

"I like it when your eyes sparkle by the way."

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**A/N: Hi, I'm Shadow and I have a Peddie addiction. I've fallen in love with another fictional Ed - Rochester, Cullen, now Miller. What has my life become? Anyway, this started life as a one-shot and then it was 4000 words before I even got halfway. So now it's going to be ten chapters, each 1000 words (just as a little challenge for myself), describing every way Patricia considers Eddie selfish. It's pretty much all written, so you won't have to wait long for each chapter, don't worry. And if you liked this, (self promotion alert), please put some sad music on and go read _Escape, _the Peddie one-shot I posted the other day. Thanks for reading :) ooh and this could be fun - in your review, post a segment of 30 consecutive numbers between 1 and 1000, e.g. 1-30, 349-379, and I'll send you those words from the next chapter! Hope you're all having a nice weekend! **


	2. Ruining My Reputation

2. Ruining My Reputation

He's selfish because he ruined the reputation I worked so hard to build up in that school. I could tell he was falling for me after our first encounter in the hallway, and I was long gone by that point, but rather than letting it go, he pursued it. For some inexplicable reason, he wouldn't stop until I finally agreed to go out on one date with him. All I wanted was to go back to the Patricia everyone knew and rarely loved, the Patricia that had never heard of Eddie Miller.

But apparently I wasn't allowed to. Because he had to go and take me out on a perfect date, and then another one, and another, until it became a weekly thing. And by that point, I'd turned to mush, and my once fully-working brain ended up saying yes to officially becoming his girlfriend.

And now here we were, walking to lessons with one another. One time he offered to carry my books. He hasn't offered since. I can just about cope with the looks I get from people as we walk round in a pair; people think it's strange that I'm constantly hanging out with the same person, but usually they don't question it too much. Eddie was pushing his limits though.

The bell rang, signalling it was time for break. I was so relieved; I'd all but fallen asleep in that science lesson. Only Eddie's little notes kept me awake, but that was less because they were funny and more because I was having to focus on hiding them. If people saw me draw a loveheart... well, I knew I'd never hear the end of it. I took my time packing my stuff; Eddie had an adorably irritating habit of holding the door open for me. Patricia Williamson did not need people to open doors for her, and I didn't want anyone thinking that I did. Eddie wouldn't quit though.

"Don't hold my hand in the corridors," I hissed, as Eddie's fingers brushed mine on our way to the lockers. It was like he was testing the waters.

"Why?" he asked, frowning at me. He looked hurt and I instantly felt guilty. He'd obviously been expecting a more positive response.

"People will stare," I said quietly, reaching our lockers and leaning against them.

"So what if people stare, I want them to stare," Eddie grinned. "I want everyone to know that you agreed to go out with me. I want to show you off."

I rolled my eyes.

"Well as lovely as it is being compared to a prize, I'd rather you didn't show me off. In fact, I'd rather we keep this whole thing a secret in school."

He was speechless for a little while after that, for so long I thought we were going to have to leave one another and go to third period. I shuffled uncomfortably, aware that a few people were glancing our way as they passed. His mouth opened and closed every so often, like a fish, until finally he found something to say.

"I didn't mean to make you sound like a prize, I'm sorry," he said, and the way his eyes looked so genuine and concerned that he had upset me made me want to shrivel up.

Here I was telling him I basically didn't want to be seen with him in public, and all he was worried about were my feelings. I grimaced at the thought. I didn't like admitting to having feelings.

"Well, it's fine, I was joking really anyway," I said quickly, trying to wipe that awful expression off his face. He was still sad that I'd told him I wanted to keep us a secret.

He opened his locker at this point, effectively blocking me from his view and rustled around in it for a long few minutes. I sighed at his immature way of ignoring me, and then wondered what exactly he was doing. Finally he pulled a book out, which he obviously only needed for the purposes of justifying him opening it in the first place, and slammed the locker door shut. I looked at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation of that little stunt.

"Why don't you want anyone to know we're together?" he asked.

His tone of voice was pulling at the heartstrings I never even knew I had. Before I knew it, I was going to be the one asking to hold his hand.

"I don't know, I guess it's because I worked so hard on this reputation of being scary and emotionless, and it means no one bothers me. And if I start showing emotions, people might see that and use it. It would be my weak spot."

Eddie looked down at me and frowned. For a moment I was proud of how much his frown had improved since meeting me.

"So what you're saying is, you don't want anyone to see that deep down you're actually a nice person, because then they could attack you and the worst could happen and you could show your feelings," he said dubiously, and I nodded.

"I'm glad you understand," I went to say, but I was cut off by Eddie kissing me.

All I wanted to do in that moment was slap him, but that would've been mean, and a surefire way to end things between us, and if I was being truthful, I was quite enjoying it. For one second I forgot my worries and relaxed into it, and then I remembered myself and pulled away. Around us, people were staring and then laughing, muttering sickening phrases like 'cute couple', and I glared at Eddie.

"You've ruined me. My reputation is gone."

"Well then it's a good thing I'm here to protect you," Eddie replied, slinging an arm around my shoulder and heading off in the direction of our next lesson. I looked up at him and huffed at his triumphant expression.

"Don't strut," I grumbled. "It doesn't suit you."

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**A/N: Hmmm, here it is, the second chapter. I hope you all like it. Again, name a set of numbers in your review for a preview, but I'll make it fifty this time, just to be nice, so 1-50, 680-730 etc. As ever, thank you so much for reading, and I'm not gonna lie, my afternoon/evening has been really kinda lame, so if you want to leave a nice review to cheer me up... well I won't say no. You guys have put a smile on my face nearly every day this holiday, so I have faith you can do it again.  
A/N Take Two: This was meant to be posted yesterday but ff is lame. I'm very sorry.**


	3. Breaking My Own Heart

3. Breaking My Own Heart

He's selfish because he wouldn't let me go, so I had to let him go. It meant I couldn't cry over what I'd lost, I could only cry over what I'd chosen to shut out of my life, and then I didn't feel like I was justified in crying at all. We were over, we needed a break, and we could both see that. The initial excitement had died down, and we'd lost what we had at first. I'd never had a serious boyfriend before, but from what I could tell, you were meant to be happy and over the moon at first, and then happy and settled. We'd moved into settled with none of the happy.

I hated it. I missed the Eddie I'd fallen for, and I missed the Patricia I used to be. But he wouldn't be a man, and admit defeat, and give me the chance to hate him because he'd broken my heart.

We both still liked one another, and I knew we weren't finished yet, but we were for now. We'd grown apart, and become different people, without giving each other chance to fall for these new people. I wasn't ready to give up on us altogether, but we needed to close this chapter. I'd stopped laughing at his jokes, he'd stopped looking smug when he was with me. For now, we were over.

We'd been sat on the sofa together for an hour, and not a word had passed between us. His arm was around me, my head was resting on his shoulder, and every so often he would unconsciously run one finger up and down my arm. It was like we knew we were meant to be doing this, but neither of us knew why anymore. Some of the others in the living room looked at us curiously from time to time, sensing something had changed, but the shift didn't linger in their minds for very long.

Without a word, Eddie withdrew his arm suddenly and stood up. Flinging a hand down to stop myself falling straight into the sofa, I looked up at him with a face that very clearly asked what on earth he was playing at.

"Sorry," he said absent-mindedly, as if he hadn't even considered what would happen if he moved, as if he'd forgotten completely that I was even there. "Give me five minutes."

I gave him two, and then I followed him to his room. I knocked on the door and pushed it open without waiting for a reply as I always did. As I'd suspected, he was doing nothing. He was just sat cross-legged on his bed, staring down intensely. He only looked up when I sat down opposite him.

"Eddie, we need to talk," I said, breaking the total silence.

"About what?" he asked.

"Us," I prompted gently. I didn't want to be the one to actually say it.

"What about us?" he asked, looking at me properly for the first time in a while. He still made my heart skip, but not enough anymore.

"I don't know if this is working at the moment," I said softly, frowning. I'd never had to do this before.

"I see," he said after a long pause.

"Do you see?" I asked, unconvinced. "Do you really think we're okay right now?"

"I guess we've both changed," he said slowly.

"Yeah, so I figure we need to do something about it," I said, hoping he was going to tell me it was over soon, because I couldn't. I needed him to break my heart; I didn't want to break my own.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked, still looking stumped and a little hurt. It the most emotion I'd seen on his face for a few weeks now. Trust him to stop acting like a robot when I'm letting him go.

"Well what do you think?" I said desperately.

"I don't know, but obviously you have an idea," he said, shrugging, all that emotion wiped from his face again. It felt like he didn't care at all. He didn't care if we were together, he didn't care if we broke up.

"Okay, I think we should take a break," I said finally, hating myself more with every word of that sentence.

"If that's what you think is best," Eddie nodded, expression void of anything. It was infuriating. I wanted him to shout at me and fight for me, and tell me that was ridiculous.

But he didn't, so I shouted at him instead.

"I don't know what's best!" I exploded, standing up and pacing around. "But you don't seem to have any ideas, so this is all I have to offer!"

"So you're breaking up with me?" he asked, staying sat down and looking up at me. His voice was perfectly calm and I wanted to throw something at him, just to see if he was still capable of feeling anything.

"Yes, apparently I am," I yelled, feeling childish as I stormed out of his room.

I heard Joy and Nina calling me from the bottom of the stairs but I ignored them, carrying on to my room. When I reached my bed I threw myself onto it, trying to force some emotion out of myself. I'd just ended things with my boyfriend, I should be crying, screaming, ripping up our photos. Instead I just felt empty. Ultimately it had been my choice - how could I cry over something I decided?

If Eddie had dumped me, I would right now be curled up in bed with ice cream and biscuits and a movie and a Joy sat next to me. Instead I was lying here, dry eyes and dry pillow, wishing Eddie had dumped me so I could at least go through my break up properly. No one was going to take pity on the person who had ended it. He'd get the sympathy that should've been mine.

"Selfish moron," I grumbled to myself.

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**A/N: Double whammy from me tonight. Hope you all enjoyed - I guess enjoyed isn't quite the right word here? - this chapter! A couple things; firstly, I apologise for my sad little message from the last chapter. Thank you for cheering me up guys! Today has been a heck of a lot better, so I'm a happy bunny again. Now, more importantly, I'm going on a two week hiatus. I really need to study for my exams, and ff is distracting me! I hold you all thoroughly responsible for being freakin' awesome. I figure if I don't make this break official though, I won't actually stop writing! I promise it'll only be two weeks, but in the meantime, feel free to fill that ShadowSwan shaped hole in your life by reading _Escape_, a Peddie one-shot, or catching up with _The Book of Thoth_, my other multi-chap story. TBOT is, however, far more substantial than this little fic which really only revolves around Patricia moaning at/about Eddie. Rest assured, TBOT contains that and more! ****You can find both fics through my profile.** Thank you for reading, don't miss me too much, and just a quick warning - I won't be replying to reviews very quickly this time around, if at all, so there will be no preview of the next chapter. I really hope this isn't a problem for people, and I encourage you to still review, because I still like hearing your lovely thoughts. This is a one off, and review previews will make their return when I do! Over and out. :)


	4. Interrupting My Day

4. Interrupting My Day

He's selfish because he forgets we live together, and every day he lets himself grow more handsome. Breaking up with Eddie was painful, and every time I look at him, it just reminds me of the stupidity of my actions. I didn't know how the right thing to do could feel so wrong, but it did. And he wasn't letting me forget what I'd done, whether he realised he was doing it or not.

Eddie was attractive. As in, he could actually stop a girl mid-conversation as he walked past. He turns heads, and he never used to notice, because all he could see was me.

I though, being the idiot that I am, gave that up. And now I watch him at school, and he's enjoying this newfound attention. I thought he'd at least have the decency to pretend to be upset over our break up, but he very clearly isn't. In fact, he's using the pity he's being given to his advantage. I watch as girls fawn over him, reminding him that they'd never dream of letting him go. They all raise an eyebrow as I walk past, in a way only girls can. An expression of supreme judgement and disdain; I never deserved Eddie in the first place, and he'd probably been my one shot at love. They all thought I'd blown it forever. Some days I found myself agreeing with them.

As all this started, I'd assumed my raging jealousy would be confined to the school grounds. Eddie could attract girls in the corridors, but realistically, no one at Anubis House was going to give him that attention, so home would be a safe place. Nina had Fabian, Mara had Jerome, Joy was still convinced that Fabian was going to realise he actually loved her any day now, and Amber had made it very obvious she had much higher standards for a boyfriend. The house was meant to be my safe place; I could seethe with envy at school, and wildly regret everything that happened, but at home I could settle back down and just ignore him.

That was the approach we were going for with all of this. The highly mature method of pretending the other didn't exist. In some ways, it probably did make it easier - if he'd been talking to me, I'd never have been able to push him to the back of my mind when necessary. I'd been wrong about home being my haven though - living with him only made things infinitely worse.

Weekends were bad, because it turned out school and ignoring sneering girls was actually a good distraction. I could vividly remember one Saturday a few weeks ago, a prime example of how Eddie only had to enter a room to affect me nowadays.

I was sat on the sofa trying to work through some maths equations, while Fabian was next to me, constantly shifting position as he read a book. I couldn't handle how quickly he was reading - he had to be at least a hundred pages in by now, and he'd only been here an hour - nor could I handle how fidgety he was. My patience was already being tested by Alfie and Jerome having an intense game of rock, paper, scissors behind me, and Nina murmuring to herself while writing up her English essay. All in all, not the most productive atmosphere for working, but Joy, Amber and Mara were currently in my room, trying to choose an outfit for a wedding Amber was attending next month. Chopping my right arm off was, quite frankly, a better option than working in there.

Despite all of the activity, the atmosphere of the living room was reasonably calm, and I was somehow managing to get work done. Until Eddie walked in.

With his earphones in, he mooched into the room, flopping down onto the sofa opposite me and leaning his back against the arm, so he could stretch his legs. He was totally oblivious to the rest of the room, focused solely on whatever was on his laptop screen. I couldn't actually understand why he'd come in here, if all he was going to do was sit there listening to music.

I was trying my hardest to be annoyed at him in my head, but all I could really think about was how attractive he looked right now. For a good five minutes I stopped working and simply studied him.

Right now, Eddie was having what most people would term an off day. With sweats, a tshirt, and a hoodie on, he wasn't exactly looking sharp. His hair was slightly flat, and the frown he was wearing as he studied his laptop didn't suit him. I thought he'd never looked better. For some reason, when Eddie dressed down, I only liked him more. That was the outfit that always made my stomach flip, regardless of how much I tried to hate him.

It was only when Fabian nudged me that I realised he and Nina had abandoned their own pursuits and were thoroughly enjoying watching me drool over Eddie. Scowling at both of them, I gathered my stuff about me, ready to leave. I couldn't handle much more of this. Here I'd been, happy and focused on my work; all Eddie had to do was walk into the room and I tuned out.

"Has anyone attempted this maths work yet?" Eddie asked suddenly, pulling one earphone out and looking at me expectantly.

I wasn't sure why he'd asked 'anyone' - I was the only one in his class. I chose this moment to stand up though, ready to make my exit. For a second I debated whether to answer him, thought better of it, and carried on to my room. Sitting outside in the corridor was a better prospect than this.

"Patricia!" I heard Eddie yell from behind me, but I ignored him, and the grumbled comment that followed. "What have I done this time?"

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**A/N: Hello there! All I want to do is hit caps lock and type because MY EXAMS ARE OVER! But I'll save you from that horrible thought. I am incredibly happy though - freedom is mine, Arctic Monkeys are on and I'm reminiscing over the concert (does anyone even know who they are?) and I am in a writing frenzy. I know that pretty much wherever you may be, you're probably in an exam period right now, so well done if you've finished, and good luck for any remaining exams you may have! Anyway, yes, I am back, and this marks day two of my update week - if you haven't already, check out my new one-shot _Making Conversation _which I published yesterday! As ever, thank you for reading this little story, and I'll be super generous and send you all a nice preview of next chapter... which will be up tomorrow!**

**A few things to just address over this story - firstly, I hope it doesn't sound too angsty and whiny. Patricia is, after all, a teenage girl in high school, so she is going to have days where she thinks like this! I hope it isn't too annoying though. Also, someone mentioned that they don't think Eddie is the selfish one here... um, that's kinda the point! Sorry if that wasn't overly obvious. Patricia thinks he's selfish but really she's just rambling about how much she likes him. However, she was never meant to come across as the selfish one, so oops on that front! **

**Finally, I have a little favour to ask of you guys... Although I've only really just gotten into this fandom, I've been writing for ages. Ages. And I'm just about to get started on a new, original novel, and this time I'm serious about it. Who knows where I'll go with it, but for the first time, I feel like I'm ready to have a go at writing something properly. I'm not the best writer, I know, but everyone has to start somewhere. The love I've gotten on here over the last month or so has really spurred me on to make this happen though, so I want to thank you guys, and ask you this. The YA market is so competitive right now, and so diverse, and I want to do something different. Although HOA is a TV show, I'm guessing you guys are also big readers, or why would you be on ff? So, with all of your knowledge, I want to ask you a few questions about what YOU want from a new YA novel. If you're willing to help me out, and you WILL be acknowledged for this in the future, let me know via PM/review and I'll send you the questions. I know this sounds a little crazy, it feels it, but I'm so serious about this, and you guys have been so awesome so far, you feel like the right people to ask. And even if you don't want to get involved with this, keep your eyes peeled, because I'm starting something this summer, that hopefully you will want to get involved with! Thank you my little swans :)**


	5. Stealing My Brilliant Ideas

5. Stealing My Brilliant Ideas

He's selfish because when I get the urge for a midnight snack, I find him in the kitchen too. I'm not a midnight snack kind of a girl. I like my sleep, and I don't tend to sacrifice it for anything. That night though, I couldn't sleep and nothing was helping. Someone was snoring next door, I was too hot and I couldn't get my mind to settle. I wasn't focusing on anything in particular, my thoughts were just whirring around my head. It'd been a lousy day at school, and all I'd wanted all day was to sleep. Now, when I finally could, I was wide awake.

Apparently I wasn't the only one awake though, as I was to discover sooner rather than later.

Deciding I really had to do something, I crept out of bed, pulled on a hoodie and my slippers, and snuck out of the room, praying I hadn't woken Nina up. The glow of my alarm clock informed me it was one in the morning; technically I'd missed the correct timing for a snack, but then this probably worked out better. Victor was sometimes still awake at twelve, but by one he was almost always asleep.

I tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen, proud of myself for not making a noise. I wasn't sure what I was planning to eat when I finally reached the cupboards, but I was hoping getting out of bed and moving around would make me tired enough to just go straight back to sleep when I got back to my room. Quietly I padded into the kitchen, but nearly screamed when I found someone else in there too.

Clasping a hand over my mouth to stop any noise from coming out, I let my heartbeat resume to something like normal as I realised it was Eddie in the kitchen. His back was to me, his head in the fridge, but the light from inside was enough for me to identify him. I thought about turning around and going back to bed - I wasn't really in the mood to talk to him - but before I could do anything, he'd turned round.

The noise he made when he saw me was not an attractive one, and if I'd been more awake or more inclined to be civilised to Eddie, I would have laughed. Instead I stood there looking sheepish.

"Patricia, you gave me a heart attack," he gasped, clutching his chest and weakly grabbing onto the counter.

"My deepest apologies," I said, not wanting to reveal I'd gone through exactly the same experience thirty seconds earlier. "Why are you down here?"

"Same reason as you I'm guessing," Eddie shrugged, getting to work on his snack. "Couldn't sleep."

"Yeah," I mumbled, opening the fridge to see what was on offer.

"Want a sandwich?" Eddie asked from behind me. His voice was friendly and completely normal; it was as if we didn't spend our days ignoring one another. Perhaps nothing counted in the dead of night; we could be nice to one another again, only for it to be forgotten in the morning.

I went to refuse him but figured if he was making an effort, I could as well. I'd never meant for us to stop talking. I mean, I'd been expecting a reunion way before now. Our friendship had not been an intended sacrifice, but neither of us seemed to know a different way to handle ourselves.

"What's in it?" I asked, closing the fridge and standing next to him.

"Chocolate spread," he said, dipping his finger into the jar and licking it clean.

"That's disgusting," I said, revolted.

"Sorry," he said, wiping his finger clean on some kitchen towel.

"Not that," I said, shaking my head. "Although that was grim as well. The sandwich. Chocolate spread is not a filling."

"It definitely is," Eddie said, taking a huge bite of his sandwich as if to prove his point. "Have you ever had it?"

"No," I admitted, trying not to smile at his bulging cheeks. I was reminded with a pang of the first breakfast we'd spent together.

"Let me make you one. Just try it," Eddie pleaded, getting to work on making a fresh sandwich.

"Fine," I agreed, watching him smother some poor bread with a huge amount of the thick spread. As he worked, smoothing it into the corners with precision, I wondered what we were doing here. This didn't seem to fit with us right now.

"Here," he said finally, handing me the mess. I could smell the chocolate, and it made me feel a bit queasy. There was no way I could ever like this.

"Thanks, I think," I said, and tried it, while Eddie watched eagerly.

"Well?" he asked, as I finished my first bite.

"I guess it's okay," I said slowly.

"Just okay?" he asked, looking doubtful.

"It's amazing," I relented, finally giving in and grinning at him.

"Told you," he said, smiling back and making my heart leap.

For the next five minutes we stood there in silence, eating chocolate sandwiches and feeling like five year olds. It was the most comfortable we'd been with each other in a while, and now I wasn't so sure I wanted to go to bed after all.

"Thank you," I nodded, as I finished my sandwich.

"No worries," Eddie said, turning to me as he set the chopping board and knife on the side to be washed. I helped him by putting the bread and jar of spread away, sensing our moment was coming to an end.

"Patricia-" he began, turning to me once we'd both paused again.

"Who is down there?" Victor yelled suddenly, and I looked at Eddie with wide eyes. He shoved an empty glass off the side into my hand and darted out of the door into darkness.

"You needed a drink," he hissed. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," I whispered, having no idea why I'd given that reply.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! Hope you enjoyed this more lighthearted chapter! Trying to keep today's note short and sweet - thanks for reading, reviews get a preview! And a huge thank you to everyone who responded to my request in yesterday's chapter who gave me their opinions on YA novels. If you're confused, please refer back to the whopper of an author's note in the last chapter, and get in touch if you're willing to join the ranks of other awesome people. To those who did respond, I realised I asked your names and didn't actually give you mine, which you know, could seem a little creepy. So hey, I'm Annie :) and thanks for being amazing. Until tomorrow, lovelies :)**


	6. Destroying My Mascara

6. Destroying My Mascara

He's selfish because he made me argue with him outside when it was stormy, and the rain made my mascara run. The weather had turned suddenly and unusually, and it had been raining constantly for the past few weeks now. Nearly every night there was a storm, some nights worse than others, and the day only held dark skies and never ending rain.

I hadn't spoken to Eddie in three weeks, quickly coming to my senses after our midnight meet-up. It hadn't stopped him trying to speak to me though, and today was no exception.

"Patricia, wait up!"

I carried on, trudging down the path towards Anubis House while the rain pelted us relentlessly. Everyone else had escaped the worst of it, but Eddie and I had gotten ourselves detention, or rather Eddie had landed us both in detention, and now the storm was in full swing.

"Patricia!"

I paused and then heard a thud and a cry of pain from behind me. Rolling my eyes, I tried to fight my instincts but eventually turned round. Eddie was attempting to get up off the ground, frowning and nursing a scraped elbow. His hair was soaked, plastered flat against his face, and he was trying to blink the raindrops out of his eyes.

"Were you running?" I asked incredulously. "Did you have a death wish? These paths are so slippery at the moment."

"You wouldn't wait for me to catch up!" he cried. "What else was I meant to do?"

"Wait until we were back home. Or, even better, take the hint."

"Patricia, why won't you speak to me? You dumped me, in case you forgot. I'm willing to let that go."

"Well, isn't that kind of you. I'm going home."

"No," he said, catching my arm as I turned round. "Explain what's going on inside your head."

"Eddie, not now," I groaned. "This is the worst possible situation for us to be discussing anything."

A rumble of thunder sounded as if to highlight my point. The dark grey clouds above us looked ominous, as if they were planning to throw down even more rain. I could only assume that I currently matched Eddie's appearance; I could see the tips of my hair, soaked and straggly, resting against my sodden blazer. I was also trying to keep the rain out of my eyes, although I had a much bigger problem. This morning, I hadn't had time to find my waterproof mascara so I'd gone without, hoping it wouldn't be necessary. How wrong I'd been. Now I probably resembled a panda, and it'd be a miracle if my foundation didn't have streaks.

"I don't know what else to do," he said, looking helpless. "You won't talk to me. I keep trying, I tried today-"

"-landing us in trouble-"

"-and nothing, still. I don't know what I could have possibly done wrong, but please, enlighten me."

"Can we discuss this back at the house?" I asked desperately. Turning my head, I could see the house through the thick rain; we were so close.

"No," he insisted, keeping a firm grip on my arm. "I need to know what's happening with us."

"Why?" I asked, wrenching my arm out of his grasp and watching his face drop. "Why do you need to know? There is no us. There is you, and there is me, and that is it."

"I miss you," he said sadly. His arms hung at his side, his backpack abandoned a few metres away where he'd fallen. He looked up at me, his eyes full of hurt and confusion, and I took in his muddy knees, scraped elbow and soaked hair.

I shook my head and started to walk away. I couldn't do this. My heart was melting, and I wasn't ready to warm to Eddie again. My feelings for him hadn't left me since I'd left him, and right now I was two seconds away from telling him that. The thought of Eddie and I being together again scared me. I was only just getting to grips with the idea that I was single again, after a fast romance that had made me the happiest I'd ever been. If we started over, and then had to break up again... I didn't think I'd be able to do it.

"Patricia, please don't walk away again."

I could hear him scrabbling to get his bag again, and prayed he wasn't going to run after me. I felt bad enough that he'd fallen over the first time.

"I'm cold, I'm wet, my face and my hair are both a mess," I said, not turning round to him. "I'm going home."

"You look fine," Eddie said, this time running right round me and blocking my path.

"I look horrible," I corrected him. "I imagine my mascara is down my chin right now."

Using his thumbs, he wiped under my eyes, where rain was still dripping from my eyelashes.

"There, you look fine now. Your eyes look like they do when you try and do that smoky thing. Right?"

"Eddie, let me go home."

"Not until you tell me why you won't talk to me. Is it me? Have I done something? I know I was lame when we were together, but I could-"

"Don't, please don't say you can change," I protested, flinching at the lightning behind me.

"I can," he said. "I'll try so much harder. Patricia, I still like-"

"If you tell me you still like me, you're dead."

"I still like you. And if you tell me you don't still like me, fine. I'll leave you alone."

He looked at me expectantly, and grinned when I paused for a split second. Without another word, he pushed my wet hair out of my face and leaned in to kiss me. It was short and sweet, but it left me, annoyingly, with a smile on my face.

"Ugh, we're kissing in the rain," I sighed.

"Pretty romantic, huh?" Eddie grinned.

"Yeah, it's awful."

* * *

**A/N: Posting this just because. It was sat there, written, and I figured there was no point just holding onto it. Hope you liked it! I know it was excruciatingly cheesy, but we all need some cheddar sometimes, right? So, happy days if you're a fan of my work, because TBOT preview, new one-shot and new chapter of _Selfish _all in one day. I imagine you're sick of me. Sometimes I wonder if my ff addiction should concern me. If you haven't read my new one-shot yet (you all know how I am for self-plugging), check it out! It's entitled _Daydreaming_, and it's written in a similar style to _Escape_, if you enjoyed that (see I'm totally pro, two in one sentence). Also, my mind was wandering (I blame Daughtry entirely. _LLR&R _makes me giddy, then I put _WFS _on and I'm totally gone. I believe I can do anything) and I was wondering what to do for my next fic. Obviously TBOT is my main piece, and I love the odd one-shot, but I also like little projects such as this one on the side. So I wondered what you guys thought of a collection of one-shots (hear me out) - I know there are a lot of these on the site, but I mean, hey, they are popular, and we all know my fondness for one-shots. I figured rather than just one couple though (it would obvs be Peddie.), I could let you guys decide? So you suggest a pairing, a genre or two, an idea/prompt and then let me run wild? I don't know, what do you guys think? I figured it'd be a fun way for me to play with new pairings. (Like Mabian. Dear god.) also, how amazing is TTOR? Cannot believe I deprived myself of it for so long. Hands down best bit is Alfie's "Boy are we recruiting today..." - I don't even like Alfie all that much, but that was just too good. Okay, I've rambled on quite enough (I need friends/a life, preferably both), so as ever, thank you for reading you lovely people. Reviews will get a preview... :)  
**


	7. Stealing My Romantic Moments

7. Stealing My Romantic Moments

He's selfish because he didn't tell me he loved me, he yelled it. Now, I'm not one for romance. I don't care about flowers, or chocolates, or soppy date nights. All of that, quite frankly, makes me want to vomit repeatedly. Thankfully Eddie seemed to understand, and as we settled into dating one another, he never tried to change my ways. Second time round, we worked much better. Perhaps we just needed to get one break-up out of our system, and then we were fine. I despised those couples who continuously broke up and got back together again.

Just because we didn't do romance though, didn't mean I didn't want one sickeningly sweet moment in our relationship.

It was so ridiculous how it all came about. We still argued often, especially after we left school, but it usually got resolved before bed. Problems just became more real, more scary - we had to find the money to buy a house, we had to get jobs. So I never imagined our worst argument would be caused by such a high school style problem.

And you know, maybe it was partly my fault. Or, entirely my fault. But Eddie has to be held somewhat responsible, because when you've been dating someone for three years, you should know what winds them up, and where their weaknesses lie.

Eddie knew he was my weakness. So when I spotted him laughing and joking with a beautiful blonde woman one day, I couldn't help but feel a little irritated. We were at the pub, and I'd left to go to the bathroom for approximately two minutes, and in that time he managed to get so bored he felt the need to go and amuse himself with someone else. For the rest of the evening he sensed something was up, but I wouldn't tell him. I didn't want him to know how insecure I felt. I just wanted him to know I was annoyed. He was meant to figure it out himself.

Only he didn't. The next day he said goodbye as I was making lunch for the two of us, and when I demanded to know where he was going, he just mentioned he was going out with a friend. Unable to resist, I'd gone to the window, only to watch him slide into the same blonde's sports car and the two of them zoom off.

I'd stood there, still holding half a sandwich, in shock for quite some time. When I finally came to my senses, I methodically put everything away and then sat down on the sofa, feeling numb. Was Eddie cheating on me? And was he really making it that obvious?

He finally arrived home just after it went dark. At least he'd come home, I supposed. I'd stayed on the sofa all day, staring into space. When Eddie flicked the lights on, he leapt a foot in the air.

"Patricia, jeez," he said, clutching his heart. "Are you okay? What's happened?"

"You tell me," I said, looking up at him.

"What?" he asked, looking confused. "Look, whatever. What are you doing tomorrow? I need you to meet-"

"Meet who? The pretty blonde girl you've spent the day with? Give me one good reason why I should meet her," I said incredulously, standing up so I was on an eye level with him. I could tell I was starting to get angry because Eddie was starting to look afraid.

"How do you know about her?" he asked, confused.

"I saw the two of you!" I yelled. "Last night, all over each other, and then you've been with her all day. You haven't made it very subtle Eddie."

"Why does it need to be subtle? Why are you yelling?"

"Maybe it needs to be subtle because contrary to popular belief, I do in fact have feelings, and when someone is cheating on me, it hurts!"

"Patricia, what the hell?" he asked, stunned. "I'm not cheating on you!"

"Then what are you doing hanging out with pretty blonde girls? If you're bored of me Eddie, if you think you can do better, please feel free to leave! The door is that way."

"I'm not cheating on you!" he spluttered. "How am I meant to make you see that?"

"I don't know, by maybe not swapping me out for a better model when one comes along? I know I'm not perfect..." I ranted, not even listening to him anymore.

"Patricia, I love you!" he shouted finally, interrupting me.

Silence fell and I blinked at him. Neither of us had ever said that to one another. I knew Eddie wanted to say it, but I'd always resisted. Everyone despaired, but I wanted to say it when I was good and ready, when it felt right. I didn't want to say it and have it thrown back in my face. I wanted to be sure.

This didn't feel right. I couldn't believe Eddie had just deprived me of my romantic three words moment. Without another word, I stormed out of the room.

"I love you too Eddie," I heard him mutter, before hurrying after me. "What have I done now?"

"That was meant to be romantic," I told him as he found me in our bedroom.

I was stood at the window, looking outside. It was really quite a pretty evening - the stars were out, and the moon was so big, it was as if it was just outside our window.

"That's what you're annoyed about now? That I told you I loved you and it wasn't romantic? Since when do you care about that?" he laughed.

"I just wanted one moment," I said, dropping my head and blushing.

He lifted my chin up and looked at me earnestly.

"I love you," he said softly, kissing me on the tip of my nose.

"I love you too," I smiled, leaning in for a proper kiss. "Thank you. So who is she?"

"Patricia," Eddie despaired. "She's my cousin."

* * *

**A/N: Currently struggling to get through one day without posting something new on ff. Someone stop me. So guys, to start my own one-shot collection or not to start my own one-shot collection, that is the question. There's only three chapters of this left, and this was pretty whimsical anyway - I want something more serious to get my teeth into, but I don't want a proper fic on the go same time as TBOT, yet I want something else I can update. Would anyone be interested? It would be scenes and situations that you guys suggest for the most part? I don't know. Lemme know. And get a preview of next chapter for your troubles. Thank you for reading! :)**


	8. Watching My Tears

8. Watching My Tears

He's selfish because he made me cry in front of him, and I'd always promised myself that I would never let my guard down that much in front of someone else. I rarely cried anyway, and when I did, it was always to myself, softly and quietly. I didn't want other people's sympathy, nor did I want to attempts to make me feel better. In particular, I didn't want other people to see that they were the cause of my tears.

Eddie doesn't play by the rules though, he never has. That day I'd asked him to leave me alone, because I knew what was coming. He'd agreed, to my intense surprise, and once he'd gone, and the house was empty, I'd made that dreaded phone call.

"Hey Mum," I began, mentally preparing myself.

Two hours later and I was a complete wreck. I'd only managed to end the conversation twenty minutes ago, because my dear mother had insisted I tell her everything going on in my life at the moment, so she could compare it with Piper's, and then passed me onto my dad, who did exactly the same thing.

I'd always hated calling my parents, but over the past year, it had only gotten worse. I was twenty now, I should be over the fact I would always be the more disappointing twin, but I wasn't. Every time I managed to put a brave face on for a good hour, and then slowly they'd wear me down, until I could barely manage a goodbye.

Now I was sat on my bedroom floor, back against my bed, feet against the wall, with the abandoned phone to my side, slowly getting through the box of tissues resting on my bedside table. I didn't want to cry over it. It was pathetic really, but I couldn't help it, and everyone needed to wallow every now and again. Eddie would be home in a few hours, and by then I'd have forgotten everything. We could go back to being happy, and I could put my family out of my mind for another few months.

It was as I was contemplating this, trying to cheer myself up, that I heard the front door slam. Eyes wide, I panicked. Eddie was going to come upstairs, and see me like this. He couldn't see me like this. Slumping down, I wondered if I could hide from him; maybe he'd think I'd gone out, and then I'd have time to compose myself.

No such luck.

"You know, there are comfier places to sit in this house," he said, with obvious amusement in his voice.

"I'm happy here. Why are you back so early?" I asked, my voice thick, ruining any attempt to sound normal.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, racing around the side of the bed and looking down at me with so much concern that any other day I would've felt nauseated.

"Go away," I said, which of course he totally ignored and took as a cue to sit down next to me, putting an arm around me and pulling me towards him.

"What's happened?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, shrugging out of his arms. "Please leave me alone."

"I'm not going to leave you while you're upset, so I guess that's tough luck."

"Brilliant," I sniffed, trying to stop my tears now it appeared I wasn't going to be able to indulge in self-pity alone anymore.

"Why are you upset?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"I rang my parents, to get an update on Piper's perfect life, obviously. You can practically hear the surprise in their voice when they talk about you. How could anyone possibly stay with me for a whole three years? Surely they'd much rather date Piper; we look exactly the same, but she's far better," I ranted. It appeared Eddie was going to stay whether I wanted him to or not; he may as well be useful and let me offload to him.

"Who would want to date Piper?" Eddie asked, bemused. "She's so dull."

I giggled, and looked up at him. He winked and pulled me back into his arms, and I decided to stay there this time.

"She just got published in a journal," I sniffed. "And her last three essays have all earned a first at university."

"Told you she was dull," Eddie sighed. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to spend their life with someone like that."

"My parents can't understand why anyone would want to spend their life with someone like me."

"Well your parents are wrong. Clearly they don't know you at all, because when I look for a girl, I look for someone with a sense of humour, and a pretty smile, and a sparkle in her eyes. I want someone who's going to hit me back, even harder, and someone who's going to tell me exactly where I can put that comment I just made. Life would be so boring if everyone just went around being perfect. I want an adventure. I want arguments. I want drinks being thrown over my head. I don't want someone who's just going to tell me it doesn't matter every time I screw up, and I definitely don't want someone who is going to be offended every time I tell them when they've screwed up."

"So what you're saying is, really, it's very lucky that you met me, and that I saved you from a possibly very unexciting life. Sounds like you owe me," I mumbled.

"Sounds like I do," he said, resting his chin on my head. "And don't forget, you'll always have something Piper doesn't, something she never has, something she never will. And ultimately it's the best thing in the entire world, and you can always rub it in her face."

"What?"

"Me."

I paused, felt a tear slide down my cheek and then rolled my eyes.

"You're making me cry again. Please stop."

* * *

**A/N: So this was super cheesy but I really don't care! Only two chapters of Selfish left! So you don't miss me too much though, I am indeed going to start my own one-shot series. I'm working on the first one right now - I wanted to have it up this afternoon, but I realised I actually have to do something today, other than just sitting in my room and writing, which is what I've been doing for a week now. Boo. But it'll be up tonight, I'm sure of it. As a little teaser... the first one-shot is entitled 'Outcasts and Rebels', and it may or may not be based on 'Invisible' by Hunter Hayes. You really need to listen to that song if you haven't already. Okay, I hope you all enjoyed this little cheese-fest, wish me luck as I venture back into uni for the first time in a million years :'( reviews, previews, usual. Let's go back to choosing your own preview, that was fun. Give me a set of 200 numbers, between 1 and 1000 e.g. 200-400, 330-530, and that is what I shall send you. Thanks for reading! :)**


	9. Realising My Fears

9. Realising My Fears

He's selfish because I told him I didn't like saying goodbye to people I loved, and he made me say goodbye to the person I loved the most. It started off as a one week trip. That I could handle. Then it got extended to a month. I reckoned I'd probably be okay with that too, but only just. Before I knew it though, he was going away for six months, to America no less. It wasn't just some nearby city an hour's drive away, so I could go and see him whenever I wanted. It wasn't even London, or Paris, a somewhat realistic journey I could make a few times.

No. It was good old America, his favourite country, and an entire ocean away from me.

When he'd first told me, I'd been ready to throw the mother of all temper tantrums. I was ready to shout and scream and cry, yes cry, if necessary. I didn't want him to leave me for that long, and I didn't want to have to say goodbye to him. Just the thought of spending six months sleeping in our bed alone was enough to make me want to tie him to a chair and never let him leave the house again.

When he'd come home that day though, I'd never seen him so happy. He bounded up to the front door, threw his stuff on the floor and picked me up, twirling me round until I finally threatened to kick him somewhere if he didn't put me down.

"Did you get my text?" he asked eagerly, unable to stop smiling.

"The one in which you informed me you were going to America for six months?"

"That's the one!" he cried. "This is so amazing Patricia! I can't believe the company trust me this much. If I pull this off, they might promote me, they might give me a payrise... this is just the best opportunity! I can't believe how lucky I am!"

"You're... happy about this?" I said, stunned. "You want to go?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "Aren't... aren't you happy?"

His face fell and he suddenly seemed to deflate. I wasn't sure what had given it away - the unimpressed look on my face or my defensive stance. Maybe both.

"Six months Eddie," I said quietly. "That's a long time."

"It isn't that long," he smiled. "I'll be back before you know it."

"It's long enough."

"Long enough for what?" he asked, puzzled. I could tell that in his mind, he couldn't see any problem with this.

"For anything," I said. "You could fall in love, or you could be amazing and they'll ask you to stay longer, or forever."

"I'm not going to stay there forever," he laughed, pulling me close, but I resisted, wandering back to the kitchen.

I didn't want to get angry with him, but I also wanted him to know that I wasn't happy with it. Those were my worst fears - that in leaving here, he would also leave me. Leave the UK. Leave this life. I knew he already missed America. I couldn't bear the thought of receiving a phone call, telling me he wasn't coming back. That we were over, just like that, because America was enticing. They were silly worries, but real.

Dinner was a silent affair, and when we curled up on the sofa to watch TV later, the awful silence continued. The only sound came from Eddie opening a packet of sweets.

"Do you not want me to go?" he said finally, unable to take the quiet any longer.

"I want you to go," I sighed, looking up at him. "But I'm scared of what will happen when you do go. I don't want to say goodbye to you Eddie."

"It's not goodbye," he said, crossing his legs and turning to face me properly.

"Feels like it," I said sadly, doing the same. "Six months is just such a long time."

"And it'll go so quickly," he reassured me. "And everything you're worried about, it's not going to happen. I love you, Patricia. You. Not the USA, or some girl in the USA, or some job in the USA. You."

"I know," I nodded. "I know. I love you too. But can you honestly say that if they asked you to stay out there another six months, you would say no?"

"I guess I can't," Eddie replied truthfully. "This is the best job I've ever had, and if they extended my stay, I'd probably take it."

"Here's my problem," I said. "I'm sorry, I really am, but the thought of you being out there for six months, a year, six years... well that's terrifying."

"It doesn't matter how long I'm out there," Eddie said earnestly. "I'm coming back. I'm coming back for you."

Before I could say anything else, Eddie started hunting around in his packet of sweets, which entirely distracted me from what I was about to say.

"What are you-"

"Here," he said triumphantly, producing a jelly ring. "This is it."

"This is what?" I asked, bewildered. "Your favourite flavour?"

"No, this is my promise," Eddie smiled, taking my left hand and hooking the sweet onto my fourth finger. "This is my promise I'm coming back."

"You're proposing to me without the proper words but with a ring made of jelly?"

"Patricia, name three times we've done something by the book. Just shut up, okay? This is me promising you that one day I'm going to come back and marry you. I need you to trust me when I say I'm not going forever. I don't know how long it'll be. Hopefully six months. Maybe more. But you have nothing to be afraid of, because whatever I find over there, I know I have something better at home. What do you say?"

He looked at me, pleading with me. I looked down at my left hand and then back up at him.

"I say I'm going to miss you."

* * *

**A/N: Guys. I'm exhausted. I'd forgotten how hard actually working is. And I had, quite possibly, the worst start to a new semester you could imagine. It's been a long week. Which is why my new story isn't up yet, still, and I was so sure it would be up a few days ago now. But I'm still working on it! Never fear. Anyway, it's _Selfish_ weekend! Penultimate chapter today and the final chapter tomorrow! That went quickly. I hope you liked this chapter, tomorrow's is my favourite of the entire story. It was the chapter I wrote first, which makes no sense, but it's so wonderfully fluffy. OH, also, thank you so much for over 50 reviews! Can't believe there's that many for such an odd little story. I know to some of you that's a pitiful amount, but it surprised me when I last looked, so thank you! And thanks for reading :)**


	10. Annoying Me At My Wedding

10. Annoying Me At My Wedding

He's selfish because he's making me dance at our wedding, and he knows I hate dancing. We went to countless school dances together, and he never questioned it when I wanted to sit down all night. He never forced me onto the dancefloor. He would ask me once, to be a gentleman, and then we would sit and talk until we were the only ones left at the tables. At that point, he'd take me outside somewhere, and we'd find a bench and sit down. I'd wear his jacket, and he'd put his arm around me, pulling me close as we looked at the stars and carried on talking.

He always seemed happy enough to do that, so I didn't understand why he needed to change now.

"Eddie," I said in a warning tone, forcing his name out through my gritted teeth. I was trying to keep a smile plastered on my face, but it was very hard right now.

"One dance," he whispered, and he pulled a face that made my heart melt.

Slowly, and I did manage to drag my heels a little, he pulled me onto the dancefloor, and then our song started playing. All of our family and friends gathered around the edges of the slightly raised wooden platform, gazing at us happily, some dabbing their eyes. It felt like a giant spotlight was on us, and being centre of attention wasn't my favourite thing.

"You know I hate dancing," I sighed, reaching up to clasp my hands behind his neck as his found my waist. His touch made me shiver; I couldn't wait until tonight.

"It's our wedding," he laughed, kissing my forehead. "We have to have at least one dance."

"But I can't dance," I said, shooting him a full on glare this time.

"We're doing okay," he reassured me. We were really just rocking back and forth; if we were keeping any sort of vague time with the music, it was entirely Eddie's doing. I was pretty sure he was even manoeuvring us in a circle somehow. Giving up, I moved closer to him and rested my head against his chest, closing my eyes. This was better - everyone else disappeared, and it was just Eddie and me, just how I liked it.

"You look beautiful," he murmured.

"Still not enjoying dancing," I replied, feeling him smile.

"Your dress is stunning, and I like your hair like that," he continued. "Although I can't wait to mess it up later."

This time I smiled. In fact, I nearly giggled, and had to try and compose myself. If I was going to be forced to dance in front of people, I wasn't going to embarrass myself any further by behaving strangely.

"We're still never dancing again," I informed him, my eyes still closed, my head still resting against his heart.

"I get to call you my wife every day from now on," he said, sounding smug. "I can live with no more dancing."

I didn't know why he was the one sounding smug. I was the ugly duckling turned swan; I'd fallen in love with a perfect man, and somehow, he'd fallen in love with me too. He'd taken over my whole life, entangled himself in it, and I was never going to escape. What a shame.

"You're very selfish," I told him, finishing my thought aloud.

"I love you," he whispered, ignoring me.

"I suppose I love you too," I replied, trying to sound offhand. "When you don't make me dance."

The song ended, and he pulled away, grinning down at me. I tried to force down the smile from my face, but failed, as usual. As a new song started and other couples made their way onto the floor, I took Eddie's hand and led him away to the tables, otherwise known as safety.

"Thank you," he said.

"You owe me," I reminded him. "This is why we should've gone for my wedding idea."

"Patricia, our families would never have forgiven us if we'd eloped."

"Yeah, it would've been truly awful if I'd never had to speak to my mother again," I sighed, watching her fawning over Piper's hair and dress. I didn't have the energy to go and inform her that I actually picked the bridesmaids' dresses. I contented myself with knowing that I was technically free from her now, forever. I was a married woman, and I was off to start my own life.

"My father would have killed me if he'd missed our wedding," Eddie said, glancing over at the dancefloor where Sweetie was demonstrating some killer dad dancing.

"He is having a lot of fun," I agreed, laughing.

"How am I selfish then?" he asked, as we stayed standing at the side. No one had noticed us so far; it was admittedly quite unusual for the bride and groom to be skulking in the shadows.

"Everything you've ever done has been selfish," I told him, with a very serious expression. "I was Patricia Williamson, self-confessed weirdo and self-inflicted loner. I was happy. Then you came along and told me I had sparkly eyes-"

"Your eyes do sparkle," he agreed.

"-and made me feel special, and loved, and then all of a sudden, you took over my whole life. Now I'm Patricia Miller. See how selfish you are? You even stole my last name."

"I'm very sorry," he said, keeping a straight face. "I'll leave you alone if you want, or we can be Patricia and Eddie Williamson."

"You should be sorry," I said, smiling now. "But it turns out, you're not bad company after all. And I quite like Patricia Miller."

"And I quite like being selfish and having you all to myself," he said, leaning down to kiss me. "Mrs Miller."

\/\O~O/\/

Eddie Miller is selfish. He always has been, and he always will be.

Thankfully I'm willing to overlook this little flaw of his, because he's also mine. He always has been and he always will be.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah so the only reason I like this chapter is because it's fluff overload. My fave. And that's it! Thank you for reading this little story, which serves no real purpose other than keeping me entertained and fulfilling my need to write Peddie. Expect a new one shortly. If you're wondering, I did actually manage to keep to exactly 1000 words for each of these chapters... my long rambling author's notes are what bumps up the word count here on ff. You know what I'm like. I hope you enjoyed this, and thank you so much to everyone who read this and left your thoughts. Until next time :)**


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